Even Alexander Hamilton would undoubtedly express shock. After all, he was one of the first Constitution defenders to point out the limits of federal supremacy in Federalist 33.

Thirteen independent sovereign political societies came together to form the United States, delegating specific powers to a general government. Both supporters and opponents of the Constitution agreed the new government was to remain limited. The ratification debate revolved around one question: Would the Constitution create the limited government intended?

When anti-federalists insisted the government wouldn’t remain constrained, Madison countered that the states would serve as a check. In Federalist 46, he wrote that state “refusal to cooperate with officers of the Union” and “legislative devices, which would often be added on such occasions” would serve to “present obstructions.”

1 Comment:

Ah, yes, but then we had this thing called the Civil War and since then, the states have been muzzled and told to sit down and shut up. Either we’re American (a singular nation) or we’re the United States of America (50 or so different entities who are agreeing to cooperate). I think that’s what we’re arguing about right now.